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| Cryptonomicon,
Neal Stephenson |
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| Books,
Graham Bower,
20 January 1999 |
Rating: F5
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When Neal Stephenson wrote Snow Crash, he gave mainstream science fiction the boot up the backside it had so badly need. Stephenson's erudite, gripping and fundamentally kick-ass style set Snow Crash apart from the me-too cyberpunk cash-ins that proliferated at the time.
After Snow Crash, Stephenson dazzled us still futher with the extraordinary Diamond Age. Veering away from the popularist cyberpunk genre into something uniquely his own, Stephenson presented a compelling and brilliantly researched vision of a balkanized, nanotechnology-charged world.
Cryptonomicon, his latest work, is a real treat. Leaving his earlier science fiction work behind him, Stephenson explores the arcane world of cryptography. A dry, accademic subject, which hardly seems like material for an exciting narrative, but Stephenson's passion and intelligence really brings the subject to life as he weaves a fascinating tale that takes place in two entirely separate time lines - the second world war, and the present day.
The characters are well thought out and appealing, the attention to detail is extraordinary, the inventive ways of using mundane metaphors to explain complex abstract ideas are inspired and the action scenes are as close as you can get to a John Woo in print. This is another unique cocktail of stimulating ideas and compelling action that is quintesentially Neal Stephenson.
Arrow
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